Forest and Wildlife Department officials arrested four men on Saturday in connection with the killing of a cow elephant at Veliyambam in the district on Monday night.
The arrested were identified as Padmanabahan alias Vijayan, 48, of Cheruvally; A.P. Pradeep, 34, of Areekad; M.T. Mani, 39, of Mundakutty and Balagopalan, 49, of Areekad at Veliyambam in the district. The carcass of the elephant, aged about 20, was found with bullet injuries on its head inside a private coffee plantation at Melekappikunnu, near Veliyambam, under the Chethalayath forest range of the South Wayanad forest division on Tuesday morning.
Based on a tip-off, a team of officials led by South Wayanad forest divisional officer Abdul Azeez and Chethalayath forest range officer SajikumarRayaroth arrested the accused from their houses.
‘In self-defence’
The team also recovered a countrymade gun reportedly used for the killing, 20 cartridges, a headlight, knives, and an autorickshaw used for transporting the materials. The accused confessed that they stumbled upon the animal on a village road while they were poaching other animals, Mr. Sajikumar said. They claimed to have shot the animal in self-defence.
The accused were charged under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and Kerala Forest Act, 1961. They would be produced before the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court at SulthanBathery.
